July 26, 2010

Really, it's a miracle that Rescue Me's central character,
Tommy Gavin (Denis Leary) - the NYC firefighter who battles
alcoholism, a dysfunctional Irish family, a rocky (understatement)
relationship with his wife Janet (Andrea Roth), and an alcoholic
daughter following her father footsteps into oblivion - hasn't been
imprisoned for DUI.

Or isn't in line for a liver transplant (although I half expect that storyline to surface).

Season six (the series' penultimate) got off to a meh start. The
first three episodes were frustratingly circular, with a glut of banter
substituting for plot and character development. Tommy was still
drinking, repeatedly falling off the wagon, and pretty much still
misbehaving - an unlikable, unrelatable, worthless excuse for a human
being.

FX has supplied seven episodes so far. Number five ("Blackout') debuts tomorrow (Tuesday, July 27) at 10p.

Don't give up. After the slow-moving start, Rescue Me picks
up speed. By episode four ("Breakout"), the mojo was back. Aside from
some glaring (but forgivable) plot holes, episodes four through seven
are some of the most interesting in a long time.

Peter Gallagher joins the cast this season as the flirty,
irreverent Catholic priest, Father Phil. After Tommy's near-death
experience and a descent into the fires of hell, this season's theme so
far has been redemption. Father Phil comes into Tommy's life as an
unlikely therapeutic presence.

A couple of years ago Rescue Me took a bad, bad turn. It was
the episode during which Tommy entered into the territory of the damned
- when he raped his estranged wife Janet and walked away with a Satanic
smile. The writers nearly damaged their character beyond repair. (The
controversial episode was widely discussed at the time.)

No wonder Tommy found himself in firefighter hell during his near-death experience.

The challenge in the writers room: can they resurrect Tommy Gavin in the eyes of the viewer?

In the season launch, Tommy returns to life, resolved - for a nano-second anyway - to change his hard-drinking ways.

At one point, Tommy attempts (yet again) to reconnect with Janet.
Tommy is all talk, typically tripping (again) over his words, whereas
his demonstrative friend and fellow firefighter, Franco (Daniel
Sunjata), is busy cooking, cleaning, plumbing, dispensing fashion
advice, and otherwise making himself useful and valuable to Janet.

If the intent of the writers was to prime the audience to lose all
interest in this narcissistic, one-dimensional, misogynistic character,
to the point where no matter what heroics he may engage in going
forward we won't care - well, they had achieved their objective.

Tommy claims his feelings for Janet are "stronger than they've
ever been" but Janet responds..."So everything's going to be different
as of right now?......we're here ten years later [after 9-11]. Who
gives a sh*t about any of it..."

The problem for Rescue Me is that the central character,
Tommy, was too often the least human, least appealing, least complex of
the cast. Tommy's antics - the boozing, carousing and, yes, even rape
- were initially explained away by his grief over 9-11.

But, as Joe Flint points out on Show Tracker:
"Tommy uses his anger and grief over 9-11 to do what he wants to
whomever he pleases with no regard for the consequences to himself or
the people he purports to love."

Tonight, in episode five ("Blackout"), Tommy - depressed by the
Franco/Janet flirtation - hits the bottle. Yet, the binge is revelatory and Tommy’s inferno of rage roars to the surface.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Tommy is finally starting to lurch past his
grief and dysfunction. That might be too much to hope for, however,
given the writers' addiction to an alcoholic Tommy. In the past, it
seemed the writers didn't know how to let Tommy move on.

The conclusion of episode seven is one of the series' most poignant
and fulfilling. Tommy Gavin is still Tommy - a hopelessly clueless cad
- but at least we can see that he's feeling something.

Even with Tommy at his worst, Rescue Me has always been
populated with an array of interesting supporting characters - Lou,
Franco, Sean and now Damien (the newest firehouse probie), to name just
a few. These are characters worth caring about, most with compelling
storylines.

Damien (Mike Zegen) is Tommy's nephew, and his mom Sheila (Callie
Thorne) wants Tommy to talk Damien into quitting the force. In an
upcoming episode, Tommy misses a golden opportunity to encourage him to
abandon his firefighting career and, instead, delivers a pep talk.

At the center of some of the show's most memorable scenes, Lou (John
Scurti) is decent and lovable, the moral core. After his heart attack,
he begins to re-evaluate his life and habits. But, according to the
press materials (made available in advance of the season premiere),
when Lou "fails to pull his weight in a burn Damien suffers the
consequences."

While still entertaining, the Garrity/Siletti dumb-firefighter-duo
shtick (played by Steven Pasquale and Mike Lombardi, respectively) has
nevertheless worn thin. Occasionally, the writers provide a glimpse of
a more complex Garrity, and it's evident that Steve Pasquale has a
great deal more acting range than opportunities to express it.

September 04, 2008

Click here to read my in-depth feature about FX's Sons of Anarchy, written from the set in Los Angeles. The story includes interviews with creator Kurt Sutter and cast members Katey Sagal, Charlie Hunnam, and Ron Perlman.

August 30, 2007

Here in the Bay Area, we're trapped in our neighborhoods this Labor Day. The Bay Bridge is undergoing some serious earthquake retrofitting. The only direct route from the east bay into San Francisco is closed - yes, closed! - for the duration of the holiday.

Traffic is being funneled instead through Marin onto the Golden Gate Bridge. CHP just announced that they're on the prowl with their new, super-fancy laser detectors (in lieu of the old radar detectors) and. .Let's just say Marin's 101 freeway roads won't exactly be user-friendly this weekend.

So we're staying home.

But this is Marin, so vegging at home is a pretty wonderful thing. We're picking up some local organics at Farmer's Market, kicking' back with a bottle of Holdredge Pinot Noir, and booting up the 42 in. plasma.

If you're similarly cribbin', here's a guide to what's airing on cable over the weekend.

Hosted by one of the original MTV VJs, Alan Hunter, "Big 80s Weekend" will feature 48 '80s movies, a look at classic '80s pop culture with trivia, news, movie videos, and more - including interviews with '80s rockers Ted Nugent, Bret Michaels, and others.

Sci Fi Channel will run the six most popular Stargate SG-1 episodes based on their Internet polling. The "Viewer's Choice Marathon" airs Friday, August 31, beginning at 4p ET. A ten episode Dead Like Me marathon begins Monday, September 3 starting at 8a.m. ET